Staplers



ug- 16, 1966 sTEFAN-EUGENE TYszKu-:Wlcz 3,266,696

STAPLERS Filed Aug. 5, 1964 /N VEN TOR STEFAN E. TYSZKIEWICZ -BY WMV A T TORNEYS' United States Patent O 3,266,696 STAPLERS Stefan-Eugene Tyszkiewicz, Via Panama 79, Rome, Italy Filed Aug. 3, 1964, Ser. No. 387,051 Clairns priority, application France, Aug. 12, 1963, 944,521 10 Claims. (Cl. 227-120) This invention relates to staplers for stapling together papers or other sheets of the kind in which a staple-carrying arm is pivoted to a base, staples located on a guide on the said arm being urged towards one end thereof by a pusher device and a punch being provided which pushes each staple in turn through a guide slot at the end of the staple-carrying arm against an anvil on the base which fiattens the limbs of the staple to secure together sheets of paper or other material placed between the base and the staple-carrying arm.

Disadvantages of many staplers now on the market are that the small number of staples they hold make frequent reloading necessary if they are in constant use, and that they easily become blocked by staples which do not pass correctly into the closing position, such staples *being often diicult to remove so as to restore normal functioning of the stapler.

It is the object of the invention to provide a stapler which avoids these disadvantages.

According to the invention, a stapler of the kind referred to and having a magazine for additional staples mounted on the staple-carrying arm so as to overlie the staples located on the guide on the said arm, is characterised in that the magazine is mounted for movement relative to said arm and includes a part or parts resiliently urged against the said staples to maintain them in regular alignment.

The magazine is preferably pivotally mounted about an axis transverse to the staple-carrying arm, so that it can be moved about its pivot to expose the staples located on the guide. The magazine may be completely detachable from the staple-carrying arm.

A slider may be provided to close the lower end of the magazine so as to support staples in said magazine and to assist in maintaining alignment of the staples located in the guide on the staple-carrying arm.

The pusher device and the slider may both be formed at their front ends with inclined or chamfered surfaces to facilitate their forward movement under staples in the magazine.

The invention is hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of one form of stapler according to the invention with parts in section and other parts broken away;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded View of the magazine;

FIGURES 3 and 4 show, in perspective and in side elevation respectively, a slider forming a closure for the bottom of the magazine;

FIGURE 5 is a partial view showing a modification of the magazine; v

FIGURE 6 shows, in perspective view, a pusher for feeding the staples along the staple-carrying arm; and

FIGURE 7 shows, in plan view, a staple opener which is retractably mounted on the base of the stapler as shown in FIGURE 1.

Referring to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, the stapler comprises a base 1 of channel section having the depth of its walls increased at one end to receive a pivot pin 2 on which are mounted both a staple-carrying arm 3, also of channel section, which lies between the side walls of the base, and a cover 4 which fits over the side walls of the base. The base carries the usual anvil 5, and the ice arm 3 has inturned side wall portions 6 at its end remote from the pivot 2, the inturned portions 6 being Vspaced from the end of the channel bottom so that a slot is provided through which the end staple of a stick 7 mounted in the channel of the arm 3 can be pressed downwardly against the anvil 5 by a punch 8 mounted on the cover 4.

The stick 7 of staples in the staple-carrying arm is pressed forwardly -by a pusher 9 (shown in perspective view in FIGURE 6) slidable in the channel of the arm 3, the pusher being urged forwardly by a coiled compression spring 10 mounted on a rod 11 extending along the arm, the rod 11 being engaged at its front end in an upturned end portion 12 of the bottom of the arm behind the slot. The pusher 9 is capable of being moved back against the spring 10 by means of a knob 13 having a `screw-threaded stem engaging a hole in the side of the pusher and passing through a slot 14 in one side of the arm 3.

A staple magazine 15 detachably mounted on the arm 3 accommodates several sticks of staples one above another, which can be loaded into the staple-carrying arm quckly and easily, thus avoiding any major delay between staplin-g Operations except at long intervals when the magazine has to be refilled.

The magazine 15, which is of rectangular section in plan, is formed vby stamping and pressing from a flat strip of metal the two ends of which, when the magazine is finished meet at the centre of one side, at 16. As shown in FIGURE 2, portions of metal are stamped out to form a pair of forwardly projecting ears 17 and a pair of rearwardly projecting ears 18, the forwardly projecting ears 17 being curved so as to converge towards one another in a forward direction, whilst the rearwardly projecting ears 18 are flat and lie parallel to the side walls of the magazine. The metal forming the ears 17 and 18 is cut away from the sides of the magazine leaving the latter shaped as shown, the side walls of the staple-carrying arm having a complementary Shape to help locate the magazine in position. The ears 18 are slotted at 19 to engage a pair of pivot projections 20 on the inner sides of the walls of the arm 3, the slots 19 being of a width greater than the diameter of the projections 20 thus locatin-g the magazine in the arm 3 for pivotal movement and cause up-and-down play at its rear end relative to the said arm. A spring clip 21 is provided on one side of the arm 3 to engage one of the ears 17 and hold the magazine in its normal position.

A slider 22 is provided to close the bottom of the magazine 15, the slider being of inverted T-shape in cross section, the web 23 forming the stem of the T, and the fianges 24 forming the head thereof, being tapered in width at the forward end of the slider which terminates in a rounded nose 25 adapted to enter a hole 26 in the front wall of the magazine. A resilient tongue 27 secured to the rear end of the slider has lateral projections 28 which engage the upper edges of the ears 18 to hold the slider in place on the magazine, the tongue being shaped to provide an upward extension 29 by means of which the slider can be manipulated. A cover 30 for the magazine has a light coiled spring 31 on its underside to bear on sticks of staples in the magazine and hold them in place.

A spring 32 mounted in the base 1 and pushing upwardly against the underside of the arm 3 tends to lift the said arm so that papers to be stapled can be readily inserted between the anvil and the said arm. A protuberance not shown in the drawing, formed by punching inwardly one side wall of the base 1 so that it engages a hole in the side of the staple-carrying arm 3, limits normal separation of the arm and base, the protuberance being readily forced out of the hole if the arm is required to be moved further away from the base.

Another coiled compression spring 33 mounted inside the cover 4 bears on the top of the magazine, pressing the latter downwardly so that the forwardly projecting ears 17, and the slider 22, press on the stick of staples in the arm 3 and hold them in proper alignment so that they do not tilt relative to the arm. A resilient blade 34 fixed to the inside of the cover 4 carries a pin 35 which engages in a, hole 36 in one side of the arm 3 to limit separation of the said cover and ar-m, thus ensuring that the spring 33 maintains a load on the magazine 15, the pin 35 being releasable from the hole 36 when it is desired to swing the cover away from the arm by pressing on a knob 37 carried by the blade 34 and projecting through a hole 38 in the cover 4.

If preferred, the ears 18 on the magazine 15 may be provided with round holes 19a instead of with slots 19, the magazine then being pivotable about the projections 20 as in the previous case, but not completely removable from the arm 3.

The pusher 9, as shown in FIGURE 6, is of inverted channel section, the tops of the side walls at its front end being chamfered as shown at 39, and the sides of its top edge being also chamfered as shown at 40. Between the chamfered portions 40, the centre part of the top of the pusher is cut back and bent downwardly as shown at 41, the part 41 being apertured to receive the rod 11 and serving as an abutment for the spring 10.

An Opener for opening staples and releasing sheets or papers which they have secured together, is retractably mounted in the base 1 of the stapler, the opener comprising a flat blade 42, tapering to a point 43 at one end, and slotted at 44 to receive a bolt 45 passing through the base 3 and receiving a nut which secures the spring 32 to the said base.

A stick of staples ready for use is retained in the channel of the arm 3 in the usual manner, being fed forward by the spring acting through the pusher 9 each time a staple is ejected and closed by the puneh 8. The ears 17 on the magazine extend forwardly over all the staples except the one aligned with the punch, and hold them properly in alignment, the spring 33 pressing the said ears firmly down on to the staples. The underside of the slider 22, which is substantially in the same plane as the lower edges of the ears 17 also rests on the staples in the arm 3 to hold them in position, there being sufficient play of the projections 20 in the slots 19 or holes 19a to permit the magazine to take up positions accommodating sticks of staples of slightly different dimensions such as arise from manufacturing tolerances. Whilst it is preferred to provide play at the pivot of the magazine, such play may be omitted in which case the staples may be fully located by the magazine only in the region of the ears 17.

A number of additional sticks of staples are loaded into the magazine and when the stick in the arm 3 is exhausted, the pusher 9 is drawn back by means of the knob 13, and the slider 22 is drawn back by means of the part 29, allowing the sticks of staples in the magazine to drop downwardly. The cover 4 must, of course, lbe swung about the pivot pin 2 clear of the arm 3 to expose the part 29 and permit the slider 22 to be drawn back. The lowermost stick falls into the arm 3 and is pushed forwardly when the pusher is released, the chamfered corners of the latter enabling it to pass smoothly under the limbs of the next-lowermost stick in the magazine. The slider 22 is then returned to its forward position to support the remaining sticks of staples in the magazine, the shape of its front end enabling it to lift the stick which is now the lowermost in the magazine to the slight extent necessary to enable the slider to pass under it.

Blockage of the stapler due to incorrect use or other reasons can be readily cleared by swinging the cover 4 about the pivot pin 2 and then swinging back the reservoir about the pivot projections 20, the staples at the front end of the arm 3 being then fully exposed.

I claim:

1. A stapler comprising an elongated base, an elongated arm pivoted at one end to one end of said base for ,carrying a stick of staples, means for urging staples carried on the arm longitudinally thereof toward a feed slot at the other end of said arm, a magazine for carrying sticks of staples in parallel relation to staples carried on the arm, and means pivotally mounting the magazine on said arm so that it can be moved about its pivot to expose the staples on the arm.

2. A stapler according to claim 1 wherein said means pivotally mounting the magazine includes a pivot having its axis transverse to said arm.

3. A stapler according to claim 1 wherein said magazine overlies staples carried by said arm and is spaced away from said feed slot, and protruding means is provided on said magazine extending therefrom toward said feed slot to engage 'and hold staples in alignment on said arm.

4. A stapler according to claim 3 wherein said means pivotally mounting the magazine is disposed on the end of the magazine away from said protruding means and toward the end of the 'arm pivoted to the base.

5. A stapler according to claim 1 wherein said means pivotally mounting the magazine includes means for permitting complete detachment of the magazine from the arm.

6. A stapler according to claim 3 wherein said magazine is open at the bottom, and a slider is provided to close said bottom so as to support staples in said magazine and to assist in maintaining alignment of staples on the arm.

7. A stapler according to claim 6 wherein said means for urging staples carried on the arm and said slider are both formed at their forward ends directed toward said feed slot with chamfered surfaces to facilitate their forward movement under staples in the magazine.

8. A stapler according to claim 3 wherein said protruding 'means comprises integral tabs partially cut out and bent from the walls of said magazine.

9. A stapler according to claim 1 wherein is further provided a cover hinged to said base and arm at one end to swing between a closed position surrounding said magazine and an open position away from the arm and magazine to permit said pivotal movement of the magazine.

10. A stapler according to claim 9 wherein said magazine is tubular in shape open at the top and bottom and overlies staples carried on the arm, a closure on said magazine having resilient means thereon for engaging sticks of staples in the magazine, and resilient means carried by said cover for engaging said closure in the closed position of the cover.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,355,807 8/1944 La Place 227- X 2,675,989` 4/1954 Vogel 227 63 X 2,866,973 1/1959 Ruskin 227-131 X 2,877,461 3/1959 Oussani 227-120 X FOREIGN PATENTS 953,047 3/1964 Great Britain.

GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, IR., Primary Examner. 

1. A STAPLER COMPRISING AN ELONGATED BASE, AN ELONGATED ARM PIVOTED AT ONE END TO ONE END OF SAID BASE FOR CARRYING A STICK OF STAPLES, MEANS FOR URGING STAPLES CARRIED ON THE ARM LONGITUDINALLY THEREOF TOWARD A FEED SLOT AT THE OTHER END OF SAID ARM, A MAGAZINE FOR CARRYING STICKS OF STAPLES IN PARALLEL RELATION TO STAPLES CARRIED ON THE ARM, AND MEANS PIVOTALLY MOUNTING THE MAGAZINE ON SAID ARM SO THAT IT CAN BE MOVED ABOUT ITS PIVOT TO EXPOSE THE STAPLES ON THE ARM. 